Henry at Work: Thoreau on Making a Living

(Hardback)

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What Thoreau can teach us about workingwhy we do it, what it does to us, and how we can make it more meaningful

Henry at Work invites readers to rethink how we work today by exploring an aspect of Henry David Thoreau that has often been overlooked: Thoreau the worker. John Kaag and Jonathan van Belle overturn the popular misconception of Thoreau as a navel-gazing recluse who was scornful of work and other mundanities. In fact, Thoreau worked hardsurveying land, running his familys pencil-making business, writing, lecturing, and building his cabin at Walden Pondand thought intensely about work in its many dimensions. And his ideas about work have much to teach us in an age of remote work and automation, when many people are reconsidering what kind of working lives they want to have.

Through Thoreau, readers will discover a philosophy of work in the office, factory, lumber mill, and grocery store, and reflect on the rhythms of the workday, the joys and risks of resigning oneself to work, the dubious promises of labor-saving technology, and that most vital and eternal of philosophical questions, How much do I get paid In ten chapters, including Manual Work, Machine Work, and Meaningless Work, this personal, urgent, practical, and compassionate book introduces readers to their new favorite coworker: Henry David Thoreau.

Reviews

"

This is philosophy as Thoreau would have recognized it: full of life. An inspiring book that will give you the succor you need to reconsiderand possibly changethe way you work.

" * Kirkus *
"[An] astute study. . . . The speculation on what Thoreau would think about modern workplaces is plausible and well supported. . . making a strong case for the transcendentalists continued relevance. This should give workaholics pause." * Publishers Weekly *

Author Bio

John Kaag is the Donohue Professor of Ethics and the Arts at UMass Lowell and External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute. His books include Hiking with Nietzsche: On Becoming Who You Are and Sick Souls, Healthy Minds: How William James Can Save Your Life (Princeton). Jonathan van Belle is an independent scholar and former philosophy editor at Outlier.org. He is also coeditor with Kaag of the anthology Be Not Afraid of Life: In the Words of William James (Princeton).